Yerevan, the capital. Huge opera house and stadiums built by philanthropic overseas foundations that the country can't afford to keep repaired. Brand new buildings that locals can't afford to live in with high end shops for tourists to hopefully spend their money. Our guide says it is difficult to know how many people live here because most have moved for work.
A trip through the history museum yesterday - the Mesopotamia I learned about in school as the place civilization started is partly Armenia and partly Iran. Artisans here were making jewelry 3 million BC. And arms, first in rock the bronze then iron. Yerevan is the oldest city in the world - written proof of date anyway. First country to be officially Christian. Their written language is from about 400 AD and essentially unchanged.
However, Armenia is another country like Georgia - on the route from east to west for any conqueror. Relatively stable during the Ottoman Empire, population systematically killed in 1915 when Lenin and Ataturk decided borders and then again in the 1990s as the USSR was breaking up. Turkey claims western parts of Armenia and refuses to admit that the 1915 genocide happened. Azerbaijan refuses to accept that Nagorno Karabakh is independent and negotiations over boundaries from the 1994 war have still not been settled. The "cease fire line" is quite different depending on who's map you look at.
That said, other than being able to say I've been here, I'm not sure why we did. Three days in a hotel with nothing particular to do.
Posting my photos and then deleting them from my camera as Azerbaijan does not wish to believe that Armenia and the genocide existed. Google Armenia Genocide for info.
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| Working hard to get dinner made. Unnoticed in the background are the sheep that contributed to Armenia's square on my journal quilt |
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| Mikkel's first find of an interesting creature to share with the group. |
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| Having tea in one of the tourist stops in downtown Yerevan |
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| Genocide memorial |
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| Throughout Asia this was how utensils were placed |
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| In search of the local lemonade |
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